


Forgiveness

by soren_berdichev



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-14
Updated: 2018-04-14
Packaged: 2019-04-22 17:28:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14313627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soren_berdichev/pseuds/soren_berdichev
Summary: Tabris regrets she accepted Vaughan's deal, and Cousland tries to confort her.





	Forgiveness

**Author's Note:**

> What if Tabris accepted Vaughan's deal out of fear that his father would flatten Alienage if she killed him? But then she always worried she made a wrong decision. After Cousland's party rescued her from Fort Drakon prison, her first request was they take her to Alienage to check her family. Predictably, the reunion of cousins didn't go well... That's what happened afterwards.

“Leave. Do not come back, ever. You don’t belong here anymore, SHEM.”

Those words still echoed in Elissa’s head. Elves like to utter that last word to humans, as long as they could get away with it. The word has been used so often that it gradually lost most of its originally insulting meaning. Many dumber people almost believe it’s just the Elvish version of “human”.

Except when it wasn't used to call a human.

The so-called “shem” with a pair of pointed ears sat on the bed, huddling under the blanket, sobbing uncontrollably. At least the girl no longer stared blankly at the ceiling. Elissa decided that’s a good sign. She debated with herself if she should go ahead to offer consolation, or just let the elf vent her sorrow a little longer.

She remembered a time when she was doing exactly the same thing, except there was no bed to sit upon. Accompanied only by a much older man whom she feared would rape her at any moment. At least the elven girl doesn’t need to worry about that, but who knows? If she found every human a monster in disguise, Elissa certainly wouldn’t disagree.

She felt a hand resting softly on her shoulder. Elissa turned back her head, saw Alistair pout his lips at the elf’s direction. With a slight sigh, she stood up, treaded lightly toward the bed.

The elven girl didn’t immediately look up. She buried her face on her hands, her hushed sob now intermittent. Elissa decided it’s time. She put a hand on the elf’s cheek, giving a soft caress.

“Kallian, please, don’t blame yourself too much. It’s not your fault.” She tried to sound as sincere as possible. The elf gave no indication that she ever heard. Elissa quietly sat beside her, held her with an embracing arm, gently placed her other palm on the other girl’s hand. Kallian flinched ever so slightly, but she didn’t move away, or resist.

Elissa gave the elf girl a mild hug, “I know it’s not an easy decision. Your cousin is too angry to think clearly. She has no right to judge you.” Hasn’t she? Shianni was not the one who had to make that terrible decision. But Elissa was not the one who had to pay for the traumatic consequence, either.

Kallian stopped her sobbing. She rose her head, a pair of big, tearful turquoise eyes stared at Elissa. Is there plead, or resignation? The noble girl couldn't tell. 

“Please, leave me be. I am a monster, I deserve any punishment.” She began to sob again. Elissa held the elf even tighter. The small body is so emaciated, all she could felt is skin and bones, her heart suddenly ached. Maker, this girl is still a child, yet already she was forced to make that awful choice, either abandoning her cousin to prostitution, or letting an entire neighborhood get slaughtered. 

“I know you didn’t do that for money. You did it to protect the Alienage. He forced your hand. There was no way you could protect them all, but you made the right choice.” Elissa whispered to the elf’s ear. Kallian sharply turned back her head, upon hearing this. Her tone was still low and husky, but now with a new rush of urgency. “But they are dead! Killed by another shem lord anyway! How could I be so gullible, how could I trust shem’s promise…” 

Startled, the elf suddenly realized what she had said. She tried to rise a trembling hand, to cover her mouth, but Elissa caught her wrist in mid-air. “I know how treacherous shems could be. A shem pretended to be my father’s best friend and called me his darling girl murdered my entire family. Men’s hearts hold shadows darker than any tainted creature.” She added the last sentence with emphasis. “And I helped him to fabricate excuses to fool my father. I had to live with that, knowing regret won’t bring my family back, but Shianni and other girls still live. You could still make up for them.”

Kallian gave her an inquisitive gaze, and Elissa replied that with a slight nod. “The same shem lord. We gutted him like a pig he is. I threw his head into the river. He will not get a proper funeral, I make sure of that.” 

The elf drew a deep breath. For the first time since she fainted in Alienage, some color seemed to return to her pale face. Their hands now pressed each other, fingers interlaced with sudden passion. Elissa watched as Kallian subconsciously bit her underlip, she could barely hold back her own tears, but she still had one last thing to tell the elven girl. “Don’t let others know, but Vaughan would wish you skewered him. That other shem lord threw him into the dungeon. They tortured him, abused him for months. When I found him, he thought his salvation finally came. I let him believe that, I let him hope. I let him beg. Right to the end.” Those last words were uttered just beside the elf’s ear, in a whisper, but with all fervor she could muster. 

Without a word Alistair came up, put the blanket over their shoulders. The girls huddled together, now tears flowing freely on their cheeks. But he knew they have found support in each other. They would persevere, and he would help whatever he can.

**Author's Note:**

> In this timeline Duncan failed to recruit Tabris, for the captain of city guard claimed only King Cailan himself could pardon a criminal who tried to "assasinate" Arl of Denerim's only child and heir. The girl had to stay for six months in Fort Draken, in solitary confinement, until Cousland and her allies stormed the fortress prison. 
> 
> Could an elf really call another elf "shem"? I am not sure. But perhaps that's the worst insult an enraged Shianni could throw to her cousin.


End file.
